The present invention concerns a wishbone for an automotive suspension and comprising two sheet-metal halves, for attaching the front wheels of a motor vehicle.
Wishbones are employed in suspensions with McPherson struts to attach front wheels to a chassis and to control their motion. Such wishbones are usually articulated to the chassis at two points, one behind the other along the direction of travel, and are provided with a single point of attachment for the actual suspension.
Wishbones in the form of a single sheet-steel module or of two sheet-steel halves are known. Wishbones of cast metal, aluminum for instance, are also known.
The points of articulation to the chassis and the point of attachment to the suspension are preferably mounted on the wishbones as separate parts. One point of articulation to the chassis can be in the form of a separate hexagonal cross-section bolt that engages a rubber-and-metal bearing housing. Such known wishbones, however, have drawbacks. They are extremely labor intensive to manufacture and must be very precise in order to comply with the tolerances of the components they are attached to.